Ancient Research Facility
Offshore, West of Ossyria
24th April 2042
0445 Local Time

Cold. That was a new sensation to him. He pulled his clammy hands off the railing, scrutinising them slowly. It had been over forty years since he had such physical feelings. To him they were alien. Unknown and dangerous. Just how he portrayed himself. Forty years had radically changed this place. It had turned from a futuristic, well constructed experimental science facility to a dilapidated and feeble ghost of his achievements. Running his tongue against his teeth he savoured the feeling of warmth. Shuffling slowly down the corridor, he marvelled the instrument that he had requisitioned. Perhaps not the most physically intimidating body but it had its strengths, hidden away in the lean frame. Quite tall too but the body was not perfect, though it was adequate for his immediate needs. His shallow coal black eyes burned with intensity as it spied a familiar reinforced airlock. Too long he had hidden. Too long he had exiled himself whilst the world revolved. Too long.

The airlock had a length of warning tape slapped across it but he dismissively ripped it off. The people who had invaded his sanctuary had not broken the mana locks placed on the airlock. Then again, he was not surprised. From what he had gathered from the mind just before he destroy it, they were just a bunch of scientists and technicians riding on his research. Pathetic fools. He keyed in the code and the display turned green. There was a hiss as the vacuum was broken and he heaved the door open. There were a rack of antique hazmat suits with mana packs but he had no need for those. As he passed through the last airlock, it automatically sealed itself. Time to work.

The actual laboratory was bathed in an ambient ultraviolet light. Lining two walls opposite each other were massive cryogenic cells, their contents hidden by layers of chalky frost. The wall at the far end of the room had six biological safety cabinets, themselves located behind another airlock. Four large work benches were welded to the tiled floor. Beneath those tiles were a two inch thick titanium alloy barrier which encased the whole of the rooms that the laboratory occupied. The room was negatively pressurised, which was a good sign because it told him that the external mana drives were in working order. Not bad for forty years of unuse and zero maintenance. Flexing his new hands he admired their dexterity as he shuffled over to control terminal. Time to work.

Level Seventy-Five: Command Module and Workstations
Landing Pad

Braving the ferocious storm front, the Steel Wing swerved violently around as it breached the turbulence and entered more clement weather. Gritting his teeth, Flight Officer Vincent wrestled with the yoke and applied counter force with the thrusters. A lightning strike blanked out his visual scanner momentarily before the torn predawn sky returned, a smoulder blight on the structure’s surface signifying the ill fated end of the Iron Claw. Damage sigils illuminated the cockpit with an eerie crimson glow that gave Vincent a particularly unnerving appearance.

Sergeant Ganzicus watched Fenrir and Fuji as they reloaded and did a quick once over of their beloved rifles. He had read their files and knew the calibre of marksmanship that they had but seeing it in person was even more amazing. A shot over three hundred metres in poor lightning and a moving firebase. The roar of wind in the depressurised cabin had subsided substantially as they were freed from the heavy weather conditions. He motioned to Corporal Steve, four seats down from his position.
“Get tactical troopers! Corporal, hatch down.”
There was a hub of activity as the troopers of Maple Elite Strike Unit Lambda released their restraints and readied themselves. Steve punched the ramp console and with a smooth hydraulic hiss, the back of the dropship opened up into the sky. Private First Class Deena swaggered to the ramp and quickly rigged up the zip line to a niche in the ceiling. Private Dark prepared himself behind the scout, testing his flamethrower mechanisms.
“Hit it troopers! Go! Go! Go! Nexon ain’t paying us by the hour!” Ganzicus roared, making sure everyone had their hooks out and their helmets on. Bracing his hands on the doorway of the cockpit, he glanced warily at the pilot and the flashing damage runes.
“She fit to hover?” He asked. Flight Officer Vincent did not turn to face him, too preoccupied with the data streaming onto the console screen.
“Negative Sergeant. The gn… gn… third mana generator took a direct hit and it’s leaking badly. It’s on critical, mana gn… gn… flows are fluctuating too much. I have to withdraw and radio in a replacement.”
There was an abrupt shudder, followed by another series of lights illuminating the cockpit. Ganzicus had not been schooled in the Aerial Academy but anyone could see the dropship was in a serious condition.

The darkness segued to a predawn light as the Steel Wing swerved around to face the rear to the research station. Light rain pelted the metal frame as it lowered slowly, lightning flashes revealing the grey steel of the landing pad below. Thunder rolled across from the east, an ominous low boom that seemed to warn the soldiers of their impending doom. Deena Ray snapped her arrestor hook onto the flapping cable and gulped unnoticeably inside her helmet. It was a good ten metres to the platform that was barely visible in the stormy weather conditions. She hated zip lines.Where are you James? Help me. Swallowing her fear, she stepped off the ramp and rappelled down into the unknown.

Sergeant Ganzicus watched Maple Elite Strike Unit Lambda disembark from the back of the dropship in single file. He noted with satisfaction that the two marksmen had sealed up the fire points and had fallen in behind the rest of the troopers without a word. He saw Private Tyler gripping his Benelli M4 Super 90 close to his face, straightening out the buttstock in the poor light. Fumbling with his own arrestor hook, he noticed the mercenary Ben huddled in the corner, muttering darkly under his breath.
“You right Ben?”
“Yeah, I’m right. Just the stupid straps got stuck… I’ll be there in a minute.”
The unit sergeant nodded in acknowledgement and turned back to the line just to see Private Dark disappear off the ramp.
Zip. Jason disappeared.
Zip. Tyler disappeared.
Zip. Steve disappeared.
Private First Class Anni shuffled to the edge and peered down. Despite the danger of the situation, her inane humour got the best of her.
“They call zip lining crazy. Unfortunately, I like crazy.” She remarked, snapping the arrestor hook on and jumping off with an unmilitary like cry. Fenrir groaned as he reached the beginning of the line. Craning his head back to Fuji, he complained as he slapped his arrestor hook on.
“I got a bad feeling about this.”
“When was the last time you had a good feeling about anything?”
With that, Fuji shoved the startled marksman off and down to the landing ramp.
“Estupido!” Fenrir roared in indignation as he figure vanished. Fuji laughed and rappelled down after him.

Ganzicus Reid strode to the end of the ramp, gripping his arrestor hook in his right hand. A thin layer of ice was forming on the inside of the opening and the sergeant was glad of his insulated uniform. Leaning out, he raised the arrestor hook to the wild cable when suddenly the dropship shuddered and swayed, catching him off balance. His combat boots slipped on the frosty metal floor and he tumbled forward, the hook missing the cable by scant inches. Thrashing out his arms in surprise, Sergeant Ganzicus proceeded to fall ten metres to the cold, hard, unforgiving steel that was the landing platform.

Flight Officer Vincent grimaced and fought with the yoke as the second mana generator failed, causing the Steel Wing to destabilise violently. He quashed the squealing protests from the damage panel and deftly rerouted power around the second generator and into the third. The dropship shuddered once more before returning to operational service. Suddenly Vincent was aware of someone watching him from the doorway.
“Any problems sergeant?” He inquired without facing him. There was no answer. The pilot frowned and thought that he had not heard over the wailing of the klaxons. He was just about to ask again when more data flooded the main console. Staring at the schematics of the generators, he began toggling the pressure valves to relieve some strain on generator one. He was still staring at the screen when the seven inch KA-BAR combat knife penetrated through the back of his head.

Level Seventy-Five: Command Module and Workstations

From what limited information they could gather from the decrepit man, he was Information Systems Technician Neil and he had hid inside the cabinet some hours ago. Apart from that he was a nervous wreck who had a dead look in his eyes like someone who had seen too much. It was not helping that her marines had surrounded him like some sort of animal. Lieutenant Gemina massaged her temple in frustration when suddenly her earpiece piped up. It was Private Imppala.
“Ossyria! Imppala are you alright? Where’s Jenkins?” She cried, looking up from the technician. She saw some others in her squad look up too in apprehension.
“Lieutenant. The corporal is dead. The beast is dead. I don’t know where I am. I think I’m two levels below you.” A tired voice replied.
“You hurt marine?” Gemina asked, glancing at Joseph worriedly.
“No, I’m fine. A bless will help though. I’ll make my way up to you. Rendezvous point?”
“Stairwell, on level seventy-four.”
“Ten-four Lieutenant.”
Information Systems Technician Neil whimpered and clawed at his face. His filthy frame was rocking back and forth. He was not injured, at least, not physically.
“Oh Ossyria. It killed Paul. It was horrible. Seeing him die was bad enough. Ossyria! Then he got up and started talking. The voice! The voice! Oh Ossyria, end it now! If only you heard his voice.”
Private First Class Nezzy gazed critically at the hunched figure.
“What’s wrong with him. He’s loco. That’s what’s wrong with him.”
Private Aliyah dropped to her haunches and surveyed the man whilst simultaneously shouldering her Benelli M3.
“You know, a long time ago being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody’s crazy. He’s just scared. Leave him alone.” Aliyah reasoned, standing back up.
“Hey, I outrank you so my opinion take precedence.” Nezzy sneered.
“That was out of line marine.” Gemina snapped, staring down the agitated marine. Nezzy faltered and shook his head.
“Sorry ma’am. Just… Just annoyed because we’ve lost so many and we haven’t found any yet.”
Lieutenant Gemina watched the recon turn away and she sighed. This mission had been plagued with some evil the moment it started. She shook the thoughts away. That was pure and utter nonsense. It was just unfortunate, that was all.

Lightning flashed outside, accompanied by the sound of thunder almost instantaneously. Rain began to pool around the broken panoramic windows, slushing noisily around the marines’ feet. Private First Class Fey gripped the technician with his good hand and hauled him up from the oncoming water. Neil was still babbling when there was a soft crunching noise. Suddenly Nezzy’s AK-103 whipped up, facing the plaster walls on the far right side of the room. Lieutenant Gemina twirled her hand, ordering her squad to fan out. Aliyah and Joseph crouched behind a service module whilst Fey dragged the uncouth man behind a row of desks. Nezzy remained in the open, rifle trained squarely on the wall and door on the other side of the room.
Silence. Then the soft hiss of radio chatter. A shadow passed the tinted glass. It was at least two metres tall. Gemina gripped the length of her XM29 and put a finger to her microbead.
“Imppala?” She whispered, staring at the shadow. It stopped just before the door and seemed to reach for something on its waist.
“Lieutenant?” Imppala’s voice filtered back.
“You on seventy-five?”
The shadow disappeared momentarily behind the back of a metal stand. It was four metres from the door.
“No.”
Suddenly the glass pane on the door exploded and the whole world went white.

Level Seventy-Five: Command Module and Workstations
Landing Pad

The air rushed by his face and buffeted at his fatigues. Ganzicus gritted his teeth and spread out his limbs in an effort to reduce his freefall speed. He had no sense of direction. He could not see where the dropship was and where was the ground but he had a sick feeling that he was going to meet it before he saw it. The cable smacked against his shoulders and with difficulty he manoeuvred his gloved hands. The steel cable shredded his combat gloves and started chaffing his palms. His Prometheus sent up sparks as the gauntlet grinded against the cable. Roaring in pain in desperation, Ganzicus gripped on as hard as he could, waiting for the inevitable impact. With a muffled crack, the sergeant slammed against the wet deck and lay slumped below the shadow of the Steel Wing.

Medic Anni raised her head as the corporal issued a warning cry. For a moment she could not see what the commotion was until the very last second when the body plummeted down smashed into the landing pad. She could not see who it was for an ill timed bolt of lightning left stupid after images in her eyes. She heard the voices of Private Dark and Private Jason, and saw several marines rush towards the fallen comrade.
“Medic! Anni, over here.” Corporal Steve ordered, waving her over. Water slid off her uniform and puddles were disrupted as she hurried over, shrugging her medikit off her shoulder. Steve and Tyler were trying to drag the body away from the landing zone gently, as another trooper thudded down from the zip line. Anni caught her breath as she removed the trooper’s helmet, revealing a face that was bloodied at the mouth.
Oh Ganzicus!

______________________________________

Author’s Story: It has been a while and I guess there isn’t any real excuse for taking so long. Maple-wise, I’ve kind of quit. At least for the moment, too busy trying to get the skulls on Halo 3. Writing five different proses at the moment or at least, trying to. It’s difficult because I keep getting sparks for different proses and it ends up all semi-completed. Do you think I should finish the Last of the Shadow Foxes? Would anyone read it?
Regardless I believe I should finish what I start so I’ll do it – probably, even if no one reads it. But it would be helpful to have people read and critise and comment positively. Projects at the moment:
¤ FEAR Chapter Eight [Series]
¤ The Unsung War [Single]
¤ Farrell Sanchez [Single]
¤ Aurora’s Redemption 64.5 [Spin-off dedicated to SilverFx]
¤ Last of the Shadow Foxes: 20 [Series]

FEAR Prologue: Ambient Wonder
FEAR Chapter One: Trace Amounts
FEAR Chapter Two: Opening Suite
FEAR Chapter Three: Dust and Echoes
FEAR Chapter Four: Perchance to Dream
FEAR Chapter Five: Blow Me Away
FEAR Chapter Six: Lament for Pvt Imppala